The Man behind Penanti

The Man behind Penanti

All the king’s men and all the king’s horses couldn’t save Humpty Dumpty from falling down. Kak Min got massive media coverage and precious national air time like no other political personality but Penanti trounced her good. She got a mere over 300 votes from a nationwide campaign and TV losing her deposit as expected.

As Saifudin Nasution predicted and stated sarcastically, that at the moment things are not going well at all for BN because whatever good they do, the rakyat is suspicious and doubtful, whereas anything negative about BN is accepted without qualms.

The bye elections were boring and tiresome for some officials to easily doze off while unprecedentedly BN itself shied away knowing they stood no chance.

Any way she lost to a better opponent who had struggled through thick and thin with Anwar Ibrahim, sharing his ideals of reform even when he was still in government.

Dr Mansor Othman contested and lost 3 times with the last on 8^th of April 2008 being defeated by a mere 300 vote margin. Ustaz Makhtar Shafie, the ADUN for Sg Bakap was luckier by winning at his third try by defeating the incumbent Deputy Chief Minister. Ustaz Makhtar is also respected for being consistent and loyal in clinging to PKR’s uphill struggle after the heavy losses suffered in 2004. Not many could endure the pain of defeat, the sense of hopelessness and being in a never ending political wilderness.

Dr Mansor left a comfortable job as an associate professor and head of department in USM to join ADIL, the fledgling PKN and the emerging PKR. It was a sacrifice not many would undertake considering the economic difficulties, hardship and sure harassment he endured. He would be seen taking a bus from Penang to attend meetings in KL. He was met with al marhum Sheikh Azmi who also took an ordinary passenger bus to attend a high level Parti KeAdilan event. Once Saifudin Nasution was picked up by friends alighting the bus at a toll plaza beside the North South Highway on his way to a ceramah.

Dr Mansor, it is said that he even had to delve into direct selling using car boot sales to make ends meet. An unfortunate defector from Negeri Sembilan was reported as selling lingzhis herbs from the boot of his car to make a living. On stage, these KeAdilan activists growled and expounded the ideals like glorious tigers. In life however, reality bites. Others simply had to fold up and lick their own spittle to become humiliated BN lackeys like many young PKR defectors. These harsh times and the persistent pressure and harassment from the authorities would make anyone crawl back to grovel at BN’s feet.

But not Dr Mansor. His persistence and fortitude paid off, he has finally won his day, and inshallah it is hoped that he shall make a good DCM and deliver to the rakyat.

(below is Dr Mansor’s brief biodata, source: Malaysiakini)

Mansor, a former professor from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), was Anwar's political secretary from 1996 to 1998when the parliamentary Opposition Leader was the deputy prime minister in the Barisan Nasional government. He earned a Masters degree in social science from USM, and a Masters in Arts and a Masters in Philosophy from Yale University. Mansor, the PKR Balik Pulau division chief, is married to a housewife and has three sons.He has served in PKR's supreme council for 10 years and is currently the party national election machinery deputy director. Mansor is a highly-respected figure within PKR circle and seen as a politically strong and untainted character who could not be bullied by rivals.

PKFZ: Reports can be deceiving

Ong Tee Keat, the transport minister seems overly satisfied now that the PKFZ fiasco has been made public by releasing an audit report. As anticipated, business wise PKFZ was a disastrous venture with losses and costs ballooning to RM 4 billion and if nothing real and substantial is done it may shoot up to RM 12 billion of public money down the drain. It also revealed the appalling governance along with conflicts of interests and clear vested interests in the projects and financing as well as political interference. A foreign partner and experienced investor in such port projects left acrimoniously, utterly dejected by the lack of integrity and problems caused by political meddling.

All the hue and cry over the report may be seen as a desperate but calculated move to divert public attention and an act to defuse a wanton scandal. The real scandal is that the project is a colossal failure. The cost to the public is billions of ringgit. Making public an audit of PKFZ’s failures or publicly threatening to go after the corrupt scoundrels do not change this nor does it recover the losses. Nobody in his right mind shall ever think of investing in Malaysian ports for quite a while.

Publicising reports in Malaysia albeit shocking or astounding ones such as the BMF fiasco, Anwar Ibrahim’s black eye, the IPCMC or the Lingam video just simply do not translate to real definite action nor conclusive punitive measures. No lessons are learnt whilst the crooks and offenders are never clearly identified and even if they are, they get away with some light raps on their fingers.

The real report should be the declaration of failure to govern, to manage a strategic project, followed by the acceptance of responsibility and be made accountable. Heads have to fall. True and proper governance must be instilled and established in all government high risk ventures immediately.

An overriding requisite and standing principle must be the strict upholding of integrity. Integrity should be the criteria for undertaking risky public projects.

As spelt out in the quite forthright deliberations of the National Integrity Plan:-

any decision or action taken or carried out by government servants/ public personnel/ authorities should not be for the profit of an individual/ a few/ private companies at the expense of the rakyat, the public.

The rakyat must not be made to lose for the benefit of a few.

We should not privatize profits and socialize losses. Period!